A COUNCIL boss has defended controversial plans to expand Seacourt park and ride – despite the project's budget doubling to more than £4m in a matter of months.

Ed Turner, deputy leader of Labour-run Oxford City Council, said the scheme was still 'the right thing to do' and would help ease traffic on Botley Road.

But he admitted cost estimates had grown from £2.1m to £4.1m last month because the proposal was more 'technically complex' than previously thought.

Mr Turner, who is also the council's executive member for finance, said: "We have asked officers to look really carefully at those numbers and have had a long, hard think about whether this is something to recommend.

"And we think, fundamentally, in terms of parking availability in Oxford, it is still the right thing to do.

"The exact nature of the mitigation needs to be determined by the experts at the Environment Agency, but my understanding is it is more technically complex than originally thought.

"When you take any decision on a project you should be clear about the costs, but until you have done more detailed work it is sometimes very difficult to be exact.

"If the cost of this was much higher, we would not have agreed to it. But this scheme will give a good return on our investment and it is also the right thing to do in terms of transport planning."

His comments came after opposition councillors warned the proposals to expand Seacourt Park and Ride by 650 spaces was 'out of control', with conservation and residents' groups also raising concerns about flooding.

Bosses at the local authority claim the current park and ride site is running at capacity and needs to be expanded in time for some 2,000 extra journeys expected when the Westgate Shopping Centre reopens in October.

But city council Liberal Democrat leader Andrew Gant has warned the scheme is ‘ill conceived’, with Green leader Craig Simmons claiming it was 'obscene' to spend the extra cash on parking spaces instead of affordable housing.

Mr Gant and others have also highlighted it as yet another capital project at the city council that has seen its cost estimates balloon beyond expectations.

In 2014 audits revealed the projected cost for construction of Rose Hill’s new community centre rose from £3.49m to £4.76m in a matter of months, with the cost of refurbishing the city’s tower blocks also jumping from £16.6m to £20m in the space of a year.

The £2m cost increases for the Seacourt scheme have largely been put down to measures needed to mitigate flooding and are included in budget proposals set to be considered in February.

Even if extra funding is approved, the scheme will still require planning permission from the city council's west area planning committee before it can go ahead.